December 2008 CAUT Votes to Censure First Nations University Delegates to the CAUT Council meeting in Ottawa last month voted unanimously to censure First Nations University of Canada for its ongoing failure to resolve the serious problems with the governance of the university. Why Academics Strike Although financial considerations can occasionally precipitate a strike, it generally takes some additional matter of principle to lead faculty to walk the picket line, writes Jim Clark. Feds’ Commercial Focus Puts Basic Research at Risk You will have noticed higher education policy played no role during the recent federal election. The platform of the winning Conservatives was silent on the subject. Why seems obvious…the election campaign was increasingly consumed by economic crisis and leadership issues. Entry-Level Salaries Highest in Canada Canada leads the world in entry-level academic salaries, says a report by researchers at the Boston College Center for International Higher Education. Acadia University Faces Censure The board of directors and administration of Acadia University face censure by CAUT in April unless they agree to reverse the firing of computer science professor Colin Wightman. Tenured Faculty or Endangered Species? Those of us who work and study in a contemporary North American university or college are aware of the growing divergence between the idealized past of the academy and present-day realities of the working lives of students and faculty. Canada Slips in Progress on Human Rights Canadians shouldn’t be too smug about the notion that Canada is the world’s “human rights good guy,” according to Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada. CAUT Claims CRC Breached Equity Accord The Canada Research Chairs program has breached the terms of a mediated settlement that was supposed to address the underrepresentation of equity-seeking groups in chair appointments. Ontario Institute of Technology Joins CAUT Full-time faculty represented by the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association are the latest academics to join CAUT after a unanimous acceptance vote by CAUT Council in November. Proportion & distortion Contrary to Stewart’s assertion, women do not drop out of engineering in “disproportionate” numbers. The reality is that a larger proportion of female than male engineering students do complete their studies. Thank you The executive and membership of the Brandon University Faculty Association would like to express their sincere gratitude for the support they received during their recent job action. It meant a lot to them. Charles Bigelow Charles Cross Bigelow, CAUT’s president in 1972–1973 and Dean Emeritus of the University of Manitoba, died Nov. 25. He was 80. UofA Students, Faculty Protest Human Rights Office Closure Hundreds of faculty and students at the University of Alberta have signed letters protesting the administration’s unilateral decision to shut down the Office of Human Rights. NSCAD Union Votes 97% for Strike Nova Scotia College of Art and Design technical and educational resource personnel could walk off the job later this month, after the union’s membership voted in a strike referendum ballot. L’ACPPU impose un blâme à l’Université des Premières nations Les délégués à l’assemblée du Conseil de l’ACPPU tenue à Ottawa le mois dernier ont adopté à l’unanimité une motion imposant un blâme à l’Université des Premières nations du Canada (UPNC) en conséquence du défaut, de la part de l’établissement, de résoudre ses sérieux problèmes de gouvernance. Le paysage de la recherche fondamentale mis en danger La politique d’enseignement supérieur ne figurait pas au rang des enjeux de la dernière campagne électorale fédérale. Le programme du Parti conservateur, reporté au pouvoir, ne comportait rien à ce sujet. Le Canada offre les salaires d’embauche les plus élevés au monde Selon un rapport de recherche publié par le Boston College Center for International Higher Education, c’est au Canada que les salaires d’embauche des universitaires sont les plus élevés au monde. Droits humains : le Canada est montré du doigt Les Canadiens ne devraient pas trop se satisfaire de l’idée que leur pays est le chef de file mondial de la défense des droits humains. Le corps professoral de l’UOITFA joint les rangs de l’ACPPU À son assemblée de novembre, le Conseil de l’ACPPU a approuvé, par un vote unanime, l’adhésion des membres à temps plein du corps professoral représentés par l’association des professeures et professeurs de l’Institut universitaire de technologie de l’Ontario (UOITFA). L’Université d’Acadia exposée à une sanction de blâme L'ACPPU pourrait imposer un blâme à l’Université Acadia si la direction et le conseil d’administration de cet établissement ne consentent pas à rétablir dans son poste un professeur d’informatique. 12